Featured
More pressure mounts on Solskjaer as Sir Alex Ferguson faults his decision at United
Manchester United dropped from the joint second on the EPL table to fourth after their disappointing draw against Everton at the Theatre of Dreams on Saturday.
The result has only compounded the mounting pressure on United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with many calling for his sack.
Meanwhile, former United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has pointed out that Solskjaer made a mistake by naming Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench.
The 36-year-old Ronaldo has made an impressive start to his second spell in Manchester United after his sensational return from Juventus this summer where he had scored five goals in five matches before last weekend’s game.
But Solskjaer defending his action, claimed that he wanted to ‘freshen’ his team up and give Ronaldo a rest following the midweek Champions League win over Villarreal.
However, the change had initially appeared to work for Solskjaer with Antony Martial making the most of a rare start when he put the Red Devils ahead on the stroke of half-time, but Everton responded well after the break while earning themselves a point through Andros Townsend second half effort.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner came on as a 57th-minute sub and eight minutes before Everton’s equalizer, but struggled to make an impact before furiously storming down the tunnel at full time..
Solskjaer’s defence on his decision to bench Ronaldo was however faulted by Ferguson who appears to disagree with his pupil, telling MMA legend Khabib Nurmagomedov that ‘you should always start your best players’.
Ferguson was filmed talking to Khabib at Old Trafford after Saturday’s draw and said: ‘But I also think that they [Everton] saw Ronaldo wasn’t playing…’
Khabib replied: ‘Yeah, but he came on in the second half…’
And the Manchester United legend responded: ‘I know but you should always start with your best players.’
Manchester United enjoyed a superb start to the new season but results have fallen away in recent weeks, with the team already out of the EFL Cup and failing to beat West Ham, Aston Villa and Everton at home.
Asked whether he regretted his decision to bench Ronaldo against Everton, Solskjaer said: ‘No!
‘You make decisions throughout a long, long season and you have to manage the players workload and the decision for me was the correct one.
‘Anthony Martial came in and did well, scored a good goal. Edinson needed minutes, he got an hour and could have had a goal. It was a great cross and good chance for him. We have to make those decisions at times.’